MCX Crude Oil Call: OPEC Refused To Cut Oil Production

The market continued to weaken in post-settlement trade after the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, reported a smaller-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories last week. China devalued its yuan currency by nearly 2 percent after a run of poor economic data, guiding the currency to a near three-year low. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries projected that crude supplies from countries outside the group will rise by 90,000 bpd this year, a sign that crude’s price collapse was taking longer than expected to hit U.S. shale drillers and other competing sources. A global oil oversupply since last summer, led by stubbornly strong U.S. shale crude output and record production by Middle East producers, has driven prices down from June 2014 highs above $100 a barrel. This year so far, U.S. crude has lost almost 20 percent, extending its 46 percent drop in 2014. Brent has fallen 15 percent, adding to last year’s 48 percent tumble.